TRACK READING:
October 1-31
TURN IN WEEKLY MINUTES
RECORD EACH MONDAY
CALENDAR TALLY AND
PLEDGE SHEETS DUE:
November 7-11
CLOSING CEREMONY:
November 15 9:15 am
We are excited to announce this year’s Read-a-Thon — Peace, Love & Books
(and a little bit of Rock n' Roll)!
The purpose of the Read-a-Thon is twofold:
 To encourage students to develop good reading habits
 To help raise money for the PTA’s projects and budgeted items to benefit
the entire Horace Mann School community.
Each successive year of the Read-a-Thon, the students have read more minutes
than in the past year AND raised more money. This money is used to support the
library, pay for student field trips, and support the many other programs the PTA
sponsors, such as Art Adventures and field trips.
Participating in the Read-a-Thon is as easy as 1-2-3!
1. Set a Daily Reading Goal. Each student sets a goal for how many minutes
he or she will read each day during October. Time spent reading at home and
school counts. Time parents or others read aloud to a student also counts.
2. Track Home Reading. Each student tracks minutes read each day at home
using the enclosed Calendar Tally Sheet. Teachers track read-aloud and silent
reading time at school. Teachers will give that total to students on October 31
to add to the Calendar Tally Sheet. *** Students who turn in the Weekly
Minutes Record each Monday showing how many minutes they read at
home the previous week will receive special participation gifts.*** Weekly
minutes are compiled to see how students are doing towards our school goal.
3. Secure Sponsors and Collect Pledges. Each student is encouraged to find
sponsors – parents, grandparents, other relatives, friends, neighbors, etc. – to
pledge money based on the student’s reading. (A pledge might be 2 cents a
minute or a one-time pledge of a set amount.) See enclosed Pledge Sheet.
The student collects the money and returns the Calendar Tally Sheet, Pledge
Sheet, and money to school volunteers each morning during the week of
November 7-11.
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Read-a-Thon Goals
1. For Horace Mann School students to collectively read more than 600,000
minutes from October 1-31. If students reach this goal, Mr. Litwin will
complete a special challenge at a school assembly.
2. To raise $20,000. Money raised by this fundraiser is critical to the success of
PTA goals to fully fund classroom and school projects.
How Families Can Help
Please work with your child to set a daily reading goal, which includes both home
and school reading time. A good estimate for school reading time is 45 minutes
per school day.
Below are suggested at-home reading goals for students by grade level:
Kindergarten:
1st and 2nd grade:
3rd, 4th, and 5th grades:
20 minutes per day
25 minutes per day
30 minutes per day
Be sure to review the Read-a-Thon Rules so that you understand what is
involved. Then help your child secure sponsors and keep accurate records of
daily home reading time using the Calendar Tally Sheet. Again, teachers will
track read-aloud and silent reading time at school.
Read-a-Thon Rules (Please read!)
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The Read-a-Thon will be from October 1-31. Time spent reading books before
and after these dates doesn’t count.
Parents, guardians, grandparents, older siblings and other family members or
friends may read aloud to your child. This time counts toward minutes read.
For students in grades 2-5, time spent reading one book counts only one time.
Books cannot be re-read and count toward the total.
The total number of minutes read must be entered in the “total” box of your
child’s Calendar Tally Sheet.
The total amount of money collected must be entered on “total collected” line
of your child’s Pledge Sheet.
All Calendar Tally Sheets, and any Pledge Sheets and pledge money
must be returned during the week of November 7-11 for students to be
eligible for prizes. PTA volunteers will be in the main hallway before
school each day that week to collect materials.
Checks can be made payable to “Horace Mann PTA”. Pledges are tax
deductible! You can double your donation if your employer has a matching gift
program.
Questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions online at
http://mann.spps.org or contact:
Nienke Wijnia
612-388-9828
[email protected]
Tia Anderson
651-253-4471
[email protected]
Karie Johnson
651-699-3432
[email protected]
Alex Kotze
612-991-7905
[email protected]
Jennifer Merriam
651-698-9100
[email protected]
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